Laughlin Whiteley, of Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex “passed away” on Saturday night after being overcome by his third bout of cancer in his very short life.
The brave little boy brought a smile to Prince Harry’s face last month when the two met each other at the WellChild awards, a national charity for sick children which named Laughlin its Most Inspirational Child of the Year after receiving hundreds of nominations.
Me, Gus and Prince Harry discuss Lego… http://t.co/kXGKi7BKg6
As the charity’s patron, Prince Harry presented Laughlin with his award and happily chatted with the youngster who was dressed in an adorable outfit he had picked himself – a smart tweed jacket complete with bow-tie and fedora which his dad blogged was his son’s homage Pharell Williams’ song, Happy.
A Palace spokesperson told reporters that Prince Harry was “so sad to hear the news” that Laughlin had died and that his thoughts were with the Whiteley family.
After being diagnosed with a brain tumour at age four Laughlin had a stem cell transplant for a rare leukaemia in February and was given the all-clear, but suffered a relapse of the blood cancer.
To break the terrible news Laughlin’s family – who called him ‘Lockey’ – tweeted on Saturday night: “When Laughlin is feeling a bit puffed, he always says, ‘Just let me take my breath.’ He took his last tonight at 6.30.”
Lockey came home with us last nite. He’s back in the bedroom he loved amongst his treasures. Even more he’s here, always here, in our hearts
Hours later they later added: “Lockey is now surrounded by all those he loves, and all the things he loves.
“He knew that as he slowly, slowly drifted off…Last night he told us, each of us, that he loved us & gave us a hug.
